An old friend hailed as the best thing since sliced bread has made a welcome return to West Middlesex Hospital.

Toast is back on the menu at the Isleworth hospital for the first time in five years after mounting calls from patients.

Toasters had not been allowed at the Twickenham Road site since it was redeveloped in 2003 after they were responsible for a spate of unnecessary call outs to the local fire service.

But Yvonne Franks, director of nursing and midwifery, said: "The hospital's nutrition team ask patients what they think of the food at the hospital, and the patients have very clearly told us that they want toast. As a result of listening to our patients, it was decided to bring back toast. To many people, toast is a comfort food. It makes them feel better.

"Our patients as well as our nurses, told us that even if they can't face eating anything else, they could eat a little toast. The smell of toast can be an inducement to 'try a little something'. This ensures that the patient is receiving some nutrition, when the alternative is eating nothing, and hopefully improving their appetite and moving them on to a full diet."

Before the toasters could return, staff undertook a widespread risk assessment, did research on the best kind of toasters to use, looked at alternative ways of getting toast to the patients and worked closely with the health and safety team and fire officer to ensure its safe return.

But a major factor in the return of toast was the replacement of smoke detectors with heat detectors in certain areas to prevent false alarms.